PESHAWAR: Speakers at a consultancy gathering held here the other day demanded that authorities and policymakers adopt mother languages as compulsory subjects in educational institutions.
The meeting on the Mother Languages Movement was organized under the auspices of Mafkoora, a research and development organization.
The participants, including rights activists and language experts, urged the provincial government to issue a notification ensuring the teaching of designated mother languages as compulsory subjects in both public and private educational institutions.
They pointed out that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was home to over two dozen languages, out of which five—Pashto, Hindko, Kohistani, Seraiki, and Khowar—had been adopted as mediums of instruction in their respective districts.
They emphasized that losing one’s mother language amounted to losing indigenous heritage, collective wisdom, cultural identity, and values of pluralism, worldview, mutual respect, and tolerance.
Linguistic diversity, they argued, promotes peace, respect for others’ viewpoints, interfaith harmony, and various other social values, traditions, and claims over tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
A resolution unanimously passed during the event demanded that all educational boards in KP set a separate paper for students in their annual examinations in their respective mother languages, with this paper carrying 100 marks from the next academic session.
The participants agreed to convene an all-party conference on the issue of mother languages and their significance in social and political life.
They also urged the KP Textbook Board authorities to ensure the availability of books on compulsory subjects in schools and called for action against institutions that do not appoint teachers of mother languages to teach them as compulsory subjects.
Hayat Roghani, Chief Executive Officer of Mafkoora, announced the launch of a social media trend in KP’s mother languages. He stated that a delegation would meet Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, the provincial education minister, the chief secretary, and the secretary of elementary and secondary education to request them to ensure the teaching of mother languages in educational institutions.
Rahman Gul Hamdard, Adil Mahmood, Yousaf Anwar, Akash Torwali, and others addressed the gathering.
Acknowledgement: Published in Dawn News on 1st July 2024.
